1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to communication systems and methods for routing any type of information from a source facsimile terminal capable over a communications link and through a network destination server to one or more destination terminals. In particular, the present invention pertains to gathering and sending data information from a source terminal using a non-standard signaling format with extended non-standard frames to a network destination server for distribution to one or more destination terminals connected to the network destination server.
2. Discussion of the Background
Although facsimile machines have found a niche in the evolving field of computer and Radio Frequency (RF) communication networks, problems exist in xe2x80x9cintegratingxe2x80x9d these paper-based legacy systems into modern communications networks. While advances have been made in the facsimile technology community that permit facsimiles to route messages within local networks to particular destination terminals, each known option is cumbersome in that each option requires an operator to send a facsimile multiple times if copies of the facsimile are to be received at more than one destination terminal.
Conventional facsimile machines are configured to operate as xe2x80x9cpoint-to-pointxe2x80x9d communications devices and serve to send only information that is scanned into a source facsimile. As such, a single document scanned into and sent from the source facsimile to multiple destination facsimile machines occur as multiple discrete events, where each event requires separate use of a public switched telephone network (PSTN) telephone line.
Limitations with the above-described traditional approach are that it requires users at the destination and source terminals to manually interact with their respective facsimile machines, and requires a dedicated telephone line to service the destination facsimile-machine. The present inventor has determined that a need exists for facsimile machines to communicate to other terminals using the shared resources of a network, and to have a xe2x80x9cuser-friendlyxe2x80x9d user interface that makes it easy for a user to send a message that includes any type of information to one or more destination terminals. Furthermore, the present inventor has determined that a need exists for a general purpose communications resource that can send facsimile data as well as any type of data information that is input from an external data source.
The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) developed the CCITT/ITU-T recommendation T.30, xe2x80x9cThe Blue Bookxe2x80x9d, Ver. 7, Vol. VII (hereinafter xe2x80x9cCCITT T.30xe2x80x9d), the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, as an approach for allowing two facsimile devices to communicate facsimile data to one another using a xe2x80x9cnon-standardxe2x80x9d message protocol. In one instance, if the two facsimile are not compatible non-standard facilities, a message protocol is established where the two terminals xe2x80x9ctrainxe2x80x9d one another regarding the formats of messages that will be transmitted between themselves as part of a handshaking process. In another instance, where the two terminals are compatible, the two terminals may immediately begin to exchange facsimile information via a non-standard frame (NSF) format. After the training session ends the two facsimile devices send facsimile data to one another.
As recognized by the present inventor, the CCITT T.30 merely defines a message protocol for initialized communications between two facsimile devices for use in facsimile pulling operations. After recognizing that many electronic devices are not adapted to communicate data remotely, the present inventor has recognized that conventional facsimile devices can be adapted to serve as general purpose communications resources that are uniquely adapted to route any type of data information to other similarly configured devices via non-standard frames in facsimile messages.
Accordingly, one object of this invention is to provide a novel method and apparatus for routing any type of data information in a facsimile message that overcomes the above-mentioned limitations of existing methods and systems.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a method and system for routing any type of information in a non-standard frame (NSF) format conventionally used for conveying facsimile polling information between two non-standard facsimile devices.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for accepting data from an external data device and including the data in one or more NSF frames for transmission to a destination terminal as part of a facsimile message.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and system for accepting at a source terminal, non-facsimile information (e.g., digitized audio information) from a device which does not include a modem capability and transmit the non-facsimile information in one or more non-standard frames to one or more destination terminals.
These and other objects are achieved with the inventive apparatus and method that form a digital facsimile message that includes one or more NSFs configured to hold any type of information that is generated either internal to the source terminal or external to the source terminal. The digital facsimile message is transmitted to at least one destination terminal where the destination terminal extracts the information from the one or more NSFs. This extracted information is then reformatted, if necessary, and either stored for later retrieval, or routed to the destination terminal(s) identified by the source terminal.
As described in co-pending applications Ser. No. 08/655,079 and Ser. No. 08/778,779, in a step-by-step fashion, the source terminal prompts the user to enter routing information about whether the user intends to route a message to one or more destination terminals, the telephone number (i.e., the xe2x80x9cfax numberxe2x80x9d) of the destination server, and the respective identifiers of the destination terminals. The source terminal takes the routing information input by the user in response to each prompting inquiry and forms a facsimile message having a terminal station identifier (TSI) field, consistent with CCITT Group III facsimile standard, where the TSI field includes the routing information.
Subsequently, the source terminal forms a body portion of the facsimile message that conforms to the CCITT-FASSM VII-T.30 standard (see, e.g., page 290), the contents of this standard being incorporated herein by reference. In this body portion of the facsimile message, the data information is hosted in respective data structure fields (about 20 bytes in length) in respective non-standard frames. The source terminal then sends the TSI field including identifiers input by the user to the destination server, where the destination server extracts the identifiers, and converts the identifiers to corresponding network and/or Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of the corresponding identified destination terminals. In the meantime, the source terminal inserts the data information into one or more non-standard frames for transmission to the destination server in the same facsimile message.
The destination server extracts the data information and saves the same in a data file. The destination server then sends the data in the saved data file to identified destination terminals, which may include devices that are not equipped to handle facsimile messages (e.g., a compact disc player).
The inventive system and method also is configured to form a polling message used to retrieve a file or facsimile message from one or more destination terminals or the destination server. One such polling message is a request message (which may be formatted as a facsimile message or an Internet message). The request message is directed to the destination server that requests receipt of an ordered list of the destination terminals serviced by the destination server. The destination server responds to the request message by providing a response message, which employs the NSF frame, that includes the ordered list. After receiving the ordered list, the source terminal can print or display the ordered list entries and prompt the user to select from among the list entries. Based on the selected entries, the source terminal automatically forms a facsimile message that identifies the selected entries by their corresponding position in the ordered list. Consequently, numerous destination terminals may be conveniently selected to receive a copy of the facsimile message that includes any type of data information.